Alex Coppock
@aecoppock.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University
alexandercoppock.com
Persuasion in Parallel: https://alexandercoppock.com/coppock_2022.html
Research Design: Declaration, Diagnosis, and Redesign: book.declaredesign.org
alexandercoppock.com
Persuasion in Parallel: https://alexandercoppock.com/coppock_2022.html
Research Design: Declaration, Diagnosis, and Redesign: book.declaredesign.org
Reposted by Alex Coppock
The section is searching for new editors for @jepsjournal.bsky.social ! Please check out the call here, and circulate widely: connect.apsanet.org/s42/editor-s...
Editor Search
connect.apsanet.org
January 21, 2026 at 5:29 PM
The section is searching for new editors for @jepsjournal.bsky.social ! Please check out the call here, and circulate widely: connect.apsanet.org/s42/editor-s...
Reposted by Alex Coppock
I need everyone in the political communications world who found the moral foundations reframing approach promising (which includes me) to read this paper
It doesn't replicate in new research. It just doesn't work.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
It doesn't replicate in new research. It just doesn't work.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The Poverty of Moral Foundation Messaging
Prominent scholars have argued that reframing political positions and issues in terms of moral foundations that appeal to conservatives or liberals can attract more individual-level support for tho...
www.tandfonline.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:53 PM
I need everyone in the political communications world who found the moral foundations reframing approach promising (which includes me) to read this paper
It doesn't replicate in new research. It just doesn't work.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
It doesn't replicate in new research. It just doesn't work.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Alex Coppock
new vox dev piece on our recent RCT to counter misinformation in classrooms in india:
🆕 Countering misinformation in the classroom
Today on VoxDev w/ @priyadarshi-amar.bsky.social (@uc3m.es @ic3jm.bsky.social), @sumitra.bsky.social (@ausis.bsky.social), @simonchauchard.bsky.social & Florian Sichart (@princetonpolitics.bsky.social): voxdev.org/topic/educat...
Today on VoxDev w/ @priyadarshi-amar.bsky.social (@uc3m.es @ic3jm.bsky.social), @sumitra.bsky.social (@ausis.bsky.social), @simonchauchard.bsky.social & Florian Sichart (@princetonpolitics.bsky.social): voxdev.org/topic/educat...
Countering misinformation in the classroom
Sustained, classroom-based media literacy improved the ability of teenagers in rural India to resist misinformation. The effects are large, lasting – and even spill over to parents.
voxdev.org
January 7, 2026 at 1:58 PM
new vox dev piece on our recent RCT to counter misinformation in classrooms in india:
RIP. Learned so much from this community.
Here's my best-performing SO question.
stackoverflow.com/questions/28...
Here's my best-performing SO question.
stackoverflow.com/questions/28...
January 4, 2026 at 9:18 PM
RIP. Learned so much from this community.
Here's my best-performing SO question.
stackoverflow.com/questions/28...
Here's my best-performing SO question.
stackoverflow.com/questions/28...
Reposted by Alex Coppock
Coauthors Liz Sperber, O’Brien Kaaba and I have published 3 papers about youth civic ed and political participation, based on a WhatsApp experiment and a prior in-person pilot conducted in collaboration w/ Caritas Zambia CCMG Zambia @poverty-action.bsky.social and United Council of Churches Zambia
NEW -
Reducing Gender Gaps in Political Participation with Efficacy Promotion: Evidence from a Civic Education Experiment in Zambia - https://cup.org/4q7MBpt
- @gmcclendon.bsky.social, Elizabeth Sperb & O’Brien Kaaba
#OpenAccess
Reducing Gender Gaps in Political Participation with Efficacy Promotion: Evidence from a Civic Education Experiment in Zambia - https://cup.org/4q7MBpt
- @gmcclendon.bsky.social, Elizabeth Sperb & O’Brien Kaaba
#OpenAccess
December 29, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Coauthors Liz Sperber, O’Brien Kaaba and I have published 3 papers about youth civic ed and political participation, based on a WhatsApp experiment and a prior in-person pilot conducted in collaboration w/ Caritas Zambia CCMG Zambia @poverty-action.bsky.social and United Council of Churches Zambia
signal boost!
hi polisci friends!
has anyone here recently run a conjoint experiment on surveyCTO? our programmer is having problems and could use some advice, ty!!
has anyone here recently run a conjoint experiment on surveyCTO? our programmer is having problems and could use some advice, ty!!
December 16, 2025 at 5:27 PM
signal boost!
Thanks to the authors for compiling this information; this view on our science is truly fascinating.
2023: 40% design-based, 40% model-based, 20% other, among quantitative studies aimed at "explanation" which I understand to mean causal inference.
Where we will be in 2043?
2023: 40% design-based, 40% model-based, 20% other, among quantitative studies aimed at "explanation" which I understand to mean causal inference.
Where we will be in 2043?
December 2, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Thanks to the authors for compiling this information; this view on our science is truly fascinating.
2023: 40% design-based, 40% model-based, 20% other, among quantitative studies aimed at "explanation" which I understand to mean causal inference.
Where we will be in 2043?
2023: 40% design-based, 40% model-based, 20% other, among quantitative studies aimed at "explanation" which I understand to mean causal inference.
Where we will be in 2043?
amazing technical feat and confirmation of a long-standing but tough-to-demonstrate prediction that exposure to online partisan animosity causes decreases in out-party warmth.
Haters gonna hate, sure, but more hate makes them hate more!
Haters gonna hate, sure, but more hate makes them hate more!
New paper in Science:
In a platform-independent field experiment, we show that reranking content expressing antidemocratic attitudes and partisan animosity in social media feeds alters affective polarization.
🧵
In a platform-independent field experiment, we show that reranking content expressing antidemocratic attitudes and partisan animosity in social media feeds alters affective polarization.
🧵
December 1, 2025 at 6:46 PM
amazing technical feat and confirmation of a long-standing but tough-to-demonstrate prediction that exposure to online partisan animosity causes decreases in out-party warmth.
Haters gonna hate, sure, but more hate makes them hate more!
Haters gonna hate, sure, but more hate makes them hate more!
This paper is great up through table 4 -- very nice RCT evidence that free gym increases exercise and course completion.
At table 5, they start controlling for post-treatment variables and drawing unsupported conclusions about mechanisms.
Remove to improve!
At table 5, they start controlling for post-treatment variables and drawing unsupported conclusions about mechanisms.
Remove to improve!
University students who were provided with a free gym card (in a randomized experiment) exercised more and had a significant improvement in academic performance. The treated students were also less likely to drop out of classes
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
www.journals.uchicago.edu
November 24, 2025 at 9:47 PM
This paper is great up through table 4 -- very nice RCT evidence that free gym increases exercise and course completion.
At table 5, they start controlling for post-treatment variables and drawing unsupported conclusions about mechanisms.
Remove to improve!
At table 5, they start controlling for post-treatment variables and drawing unsupported conclusions about mechanisms.
Remove to improve!
Here's hoping for dozens and dozens of experimental estimates of the effects of anti-corruption messages on vote choice.
We now have enough studies of populist messages for a meta-analysis (papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....); maybe soon we'll be able to do the same for anti-corruption?
We now have enough studies of populist messages for a meta-analysis (papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....); maybe soon we'll be able to do the same for anti-corruption?
November 20, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Here's hoping for dozens and dozens of experimental estimates of the effects of anti-corruption messages on vote choice.
We now have enough studies of populist messages for a meta-analysis (papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....); maybe soon we'll be able to do the same for anti-corruption?
We now have enough studies of populist messages for a meta-analysis (papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....); maybe soon we'll be able to do the same for anti-corruption?
(prohibition) persuasion in parallel
Had fun reconstructing the data from this 90-year old persuasion experiment that shows that "wet" and "dry" college students update their attitudes in the direction of counterattitudinal persuasive information.
paper: doi.org/10.1080/0022...
Had fun reconstructing the data from this 90-year old persuasion experiment that shows that "wet" and "dry" college students update their attitudes in the direction of counterattitudinal persuasive information.
paper: doi.org/10.1080/0022...
November 19, 2025 at 10:16 PM
(prohibition) persuasion in parallel
Had fun reconstructing the data from this 90-year old persuasion experiment that shows that "wet" and "dry" college students update their attitudes in the direction of counterattitudinal persuasive information.
paper: doi.org/10.1080/0022...
Had fun reconstructing the data from this 90-year old persuasion experiment that shows that "wet" and "dry" college students update their attitudes in the direction of counterattitudinal persuasive information.
paper: doi.org/10.1080/0022...
Audit experimenters of Bluesky... did you know there's a creator on TikTok who is calling churches, synagogues, and mosques asking if they have baby formula for her two month old?
This is a "one condition" study (no causal inference) but hoo boy the descriptives...
www.tiktok.com/@nikalie.mon...
This is a "one condition" study (no causal inference) but hoo boy the descriptives...
www.tiktok.com/@nikalie.mon...
Islamic Center of Charlotte in Charlotte NC. Would help feed a starving baby no hesitation 🥰🥰🥰 #fyp #fypシ #fypシ゚viral #testingyourchurch #church #faith #religion #baby #hungrybabytest #viral #viralvid...
TikTok video by Nikalie 🌈
www.tiktok.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Audit experimenters of Bluesky... did you know there's a creator on TikTok who is calling churches, synagogues, and mosques asking if they have baby formula for her two month old?
This is a "one condition" study (no causal inference) but hoo boy the descriptives...
www.tiktok.com/@nikalie.mon...
This is a "one condition" study (no causal inference) but hoo boy the descriptives...
www.tiktok.com/@nikalie.mon...
a “Space Force”, if you will
we need a department of kerning
November 13, 2025 at 3:17 PM
I'm one of those academics who measure message persuasiveness via survey experiment. I think it's absolutely the right method for doing so.
I think the response to this good point from @anatosaurus.bsky.social is not to abandon survey exps but instead to measure "getting heard" (attention) also.
I think the response to this good point from @anatosaurus.bsky.social is not to abandon survey exps but instead to measure "getting heard" (attention) also.
November 5, 2025 at 6:13 PM
I'm one of those academics who measure message persuasiveness via survey experiment. I think it's absolutely the right method for doing so.
I think the response to this good point from @anatosaurus.bsky.social is not to abandon survey exps but instead to measure "getting heard" (attention) also.
I think the response to this good point from @anatosaurus.bsky.social is not to abandon survey exps but instead to measure "getting heard" (attention) also.
lol at the MPSA shade in the last line of the FAQ
November 5, 2025 at 4:52 PM
lol at the MPSA shade in the last line of the FAQ
Maybe your texts tell you to "BE A VOTER" like mine.
It all started because of a PNAS paper that claimed that the noun form it increased voter turnout (relative to the verb form ) by 11 to 14 percentage points.
It keeps not replicating, obviously.
Most recently doi.org/10.1017/bpp....
It all started because of a PNAS paper that claimed that the noun form it increased voter turnout (relative to the verb form ) by 11 to 14 percentage points.
It keeps not replicating, obviously.
Most recently doi.org/10.1017/bpp....
November 4, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Maybe your texts tell you to "BE A VOTER" like mine.
It all started because of a PNAS paper that claimed that the noun form it increased voter turnout (relative to the verb form ) by 11 to 14 percentage points.
It keeps not replicating, obviously.
Most recently doi.org/10.1017/bpp....
It all started because of a PNAS paper that claimed that the noun form it increased voter turnout (relative to the verb form ) by 11 to 14 percentage points.
It keeps not replicating, obviously.
Most recently doi.org/10.1017/bpp....
Doing meta-reanalysis means my coauthors and I are constantly asking for data.
This month we heard back from 21 of 32 author teams on first email, all responses "yes" or "soon." (nice!)
Innovation: asking authors to post data publicly rather than privately with us via email (4 did, more will!)
This month we heard back from 21 of 32 author teams on first email, all responses "yes" or "soon." (nice!)
Innovation: asking authors to post data publicly rather than privately with us via email (4 did, more will!)
October 30, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Doing meta-reanalysis means my coauthors and I are constantly asking for data.
This month we heard back from 21 of 32 author teams on first email, all responses "yes" or "soon." (nice!)
Innovation: asking authors to post data publicly rather than privately with us via email (4 did, more will!)
This month we heard back from 21 of 32 author teams on first email, all responses "yes" or "soon." (nice!)
Innovation: asking authors to post data publicly rather than privately with us via email (4 did, more will!)
chat's personalized flattery is getting out of hand
October 29, 2025 at 3:46 PM
chat's personalized flattery is getting out of hand
rarely have we needed the "suggestive" results from a "factors associated with" design to have the possibility that X affects Y "suggested" to us
This is an excellent point that generalizes.
Researchers often defend suboptimal practices by referring to future studies with better designs.
But: Why would anybody run those studies when you can just throw a bunch of variables into a regression and make sweeping "preliminary" claims?
Researchers often defend suboptimal practices by referring to future studies with better designs.
But: Why would anybody run those studies when you can just throw a bunch of variables into a regression and make sweeping "preliminary" claims?
October 28, 2025 at 12:29 PM
rarely have we needed the "suggestive" results from a "factors associated with" design to have the possibility that X affects Y "suggested" to us
encountered this article by David Weimer from 1986 (cited by 7) with three good ideas for improving science that just a few short decades later, we've started to implement.
Collective Delusion In The Social Sciences: Publishing Incentives For Empirical Abuse
doi.org/10.1111/j.15...
Collective Delusion In The Social Sciences: Publishing Incentives For Empirical Abuse
doi.org/10.1111/j.15...
October 27, 2025 at 12:28 PM
encountered this article by David Weimer from 1986 (cited by 7) with three good ideas for improving science that just a few short decades later, we've started to implement.
Collective Delusion In The Social Sciences: Publishing Incentives For Empirical Abuse
doi.org/10.1111/j.15...
Collective Delusion In The Social Sciences: Publishing Incentives For Empirical Abuse
doi.org/10.1111/j.15...
Reposted by Alex Coppock
@chloethurston.bsky.social & Mary McGrath (both at @polisciatnu.bsky.social) join the Perspectives on Politics editorial team as Associate Editors in American Politics!
Chloe Thurston and Mary McGrath join the Perspectives on Politics editorial team as Associate Editors
APSA is happy to announce that Chloe Thurston, Associate Professor of Political Science and Mary McGrath are joining the Perspectives on Politics editorial team as Associate Editors in American…
APSA is happy to announce that Chloe Thurston, Associate Professor of Political Science and Mary McGrath are joining the Perspectives on Politics editorial team as Associate Editors in American…
Chloe Thurston and Mary McGrath join the Perspectives on Politics editorial team as Associate Editors
APSA is happy to announce that Chloe Thurston, Associate Professor of Political Science and Mary McGrath are joining the Perspectives on Politics editorial team as Associate Editors in American Politics. Chloe Thurston, Associate Professor of Political Science; Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University Professor Thurston’s research is on American political development, political economy, and public policy, with a particular interest in how politics and public policy shape market inequality, including along the lines of race and gender.
politicalsciencenow.com
October 20, 2025 at 3:53 PM
@chloethurston.bsky.social & Mary McGrath (both at @polisciatnu.bsky.social) join the Perspectives on Politics editorial team as Associate Editors in American Politics!
Congrats to @daniel-a-n-goldstein.com and @drewstommes.bsky.social for showing how an information treatment that US wars are fought predominantly by the poor increases preferences for recruiting from the rich.
No effect on tax policy tho! here again we see fx on "target attitudes" not "nontarget"
No effect on tax policy tho! here again we see fx on "target attitudes" not "nontarget"
Do citizens want to address unfair burden-sharing in public goods? New research out in ISQ @isq-jrnl.bsky.social with @drewstommes.bsky.social addresses this question by highlighting the unequal socioeconomic costs of US wars
academic.oup.com/isq/article/...
academic.oup.com/isq/article/...
October 17, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Congrats to @daniel-a-n-goldstein.com and @drewstommes.bsky.social for showing how an information treatment that US wars are fought predominantly by the poor increases preferences for recruiting from the rich.
No effect on tax policy tho! here again we see fx on "target attitudes" not "nontarget"
No effect on tax policy tho! here again we see fx on "target attitudes" not "nontarget"
What are you doing Thursday Nov 13? This panel on survey methods for measuring "rare traits" seems v. important especially if we think small numbers of people sometimes have outsize influence on politics.
The speakers appear to be Bluesky-less, but I'll tag the moderator @mattgraham.bsky.social!
The speakers appear to be Bluesky-less, but I'll tag the moderator @mattgraham.bsky.social!
Rare traits like support for violence, conspiracy beliefs, and unsafe health behaviors are really hard to measure! On Thursday November 13, learn from experts about the problem and solutions.
Free for students and AAPOR members, $5 for others. Sign up here: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-rare-t...
Free for students and AAPOR members, $5 for others. Sign up here: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-rare-t...
October 16, 2025 at 3:41 PM
What are you doing Thursday Nov 13? This panel on survey methods for measuring "rare traits" seems v. important especially if we think small numbers of people sometimes have outsize influence on politics.
The speakers appear to be Bluesky-less, but I'll tag the moderator @mattgraham.bsky.social!
The speakers appear to be Bluesky-less, but I'll tag the moderator @mattgraham.bsky.social!
👀 this new meta-analysis on edutainment by @bardiarahmani.bsky.social, Montano, @dylanwgroves.bsky.social, and Green
doi.org/10.1017/bpp....
377 ests in 77 exps: edutainment moves attitudes, norms, beliefs 📊
Effects persist ⏳
Many reasonable theories about effect heterogeneity are not supported 😇
doi.org/10.1017/bpp....
377 ests in 77 exps: edutainment moves attitudes, norms, beliefs 📊
Effects persist ⏳
Many reasonable theories about effect heterogeneity are not supported 😇
October 14, 2025 at 5:40 PM
👀 this new meta-analysis on edutainment by @bardiarahmani.bsky.social, Montano, @dylanwgroves.bsky.social, and Green
doi.org/10.1017/bpp....
377 ests in 77 exps: edutainment moves attitudes, norms, beliefs 📊
Effects persist ⏳
Many reasonable theories about effect heterogeneity are not supported 😇
doi.org/10.1017/bpp....
377 ests in 77 exps: edutainment moves attitudes, norms, beliefs 📊
Effects persist ⏳
Many reasonable theories about effect heterogeneity are not supported 😇
Reposted by Alex Coppock
Currently in FirstView: In “Balancing Precision and Retention in Experimental Design,” @gustavodiaz.org and Erin Rossiter study how experimental design choices can increase precision when estimating treatment effects. Specifically, they examine block-randomized and pre-post designs.
October 14, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Currently in FirstView: In “Balancing Precision and Retention in Experimental Design,” @gustavodiaz.org and Erin Rossiter study how experimental design choices can increase precision when estimating treatment effects. Specifically, they examine block-randomized and pre-post designs.